Brand New Eyes
by izzy0929
Summary: When Starish is told to collaberate with a new producer, they're immediately thrilled. However, one of their Senpai is not. In fact, Ranmaru is less than thrilled, especially when the producer turns out to be a familiar face from his past. What exactly did this woman do to him and is there any way to fix it? Rated T for language.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I got in the mood to write a story one day and I figured why not make it about Ran-Ran, everyone's favorite Tsundere! So here it is. It's gonna start out kinda confusing but my OC's backstory will be revealed soon enough and it'll all come together in one big, happy, romantic ending…maybe.**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not, nor do I pretend to, own Uta no Prince-sama or any of its characters. I also do not own any of the song lyrics, they belong to Paramore. I only own my OCs.**

**Chapter 1: Pathway **

Another annoyed sigh escaped Ranmaru's lips, heterochromatic eyes staring blankly out the window as he tried to drown out the excited chatter. How Reiji managed to continue talking for two straight hours he'd never understand. All he could do was rub his aching temples and silently pray for a single strip of duct tape to smack over the loud brunette's mouth. The self-proclaimed rocker sighed once more, this time noticed by an equally pissed off Ryuya, and he rolled his eyes as the ginger glared at him. "What crawled up your ass, Ryuya?"

Said actor only narrowed his eyes, grunting in irritation and focusing his attention back on the road ahead. Mismatched eyes picked up quickly on Ringo's apologetic glance and Ranmaru only thought up more questions. From the second they had all been told to go talk to a producer, the name of which Ranmaru had forgotten instantly after, it was like Ryuya had a perpetual stick shoved up his you-know-where and Ringo kept sending concerned glances. Maybe whoever this producer guy was had crossed Ryuya in some way? Whatever the issue was, Ranmaru couldn't care less. He simply wanted to stretch his legs and run far away from Reiji, who was now talking about birds or something random like that.

And then, suddenly, he found his prayers to an unknown deity answered. The car slowed to a stop, pulling in front of a large building with a sign that read "Pathway Productions". Making quick use of the button that held his seatbelt locked in, the obviously annoyed idol slid out of the car and almost face palmed at the sound of Reiji's voice again. "Yay we're here!"

Everyone, minus an unenthusiastic Ranmaru and Ryuya, stared wide-eyed at the humongous building before them and Ringo clapped his hands together to get the attention of the flabbergasted boys of Starish. "Okay everybody remember that we're here to work! I know it's a pretty building and a new exciting experience but we have to remain professional. So, when we get inside we're going to follow this nice man right here and do whatever he says!"

He gestured towards a tall, someone chubby man with dark sunglasses and a thick mustache. The man nodded and spoke in a serious tone, "Alright, my name is Giriko. Ringo here told you the basics but to go into a little more detail we have a couple more rules. First, don't touch any of the equipment. The boss only buys the best so I guarantee if you break something, not even you conglomerate heirs are going to be able to pay for it." Ranmaru noticed him stare pointedly at both Masato and Ren. "Second, don't wander off. Time and time again I get a group of young artists who walk up in here and automatically think they've made it big and don't want to follow the group. Don't be stupid. This is a big opportunity you've been given and I'm sure I, as well as your mentors, don't want you to throw it all away by thinking you're hot shit. Lastly, listen to the advice given to you. You've got six people already with you that have been doing this way longer than you. They know what they're doing, so pay attention. I don't wanna talk your ears off the entire time so let's get it moving."

Giriko waved them inside and Ranmaru shoved his hands in his pockets, following Camus and Ai as everyone made their way inside. Thankfully, Reiji had decided that it wasn't a good idea to talk when they were being shown around and they all walked in silence.

About a half hour had passed, Giriko showing them a couple of the editing rooms and vocal booths, and they reached a large studio room equipped with production equipment and a large variety of instruments. Ranmaru noticed a large variety of guitars in particular, a larger variety than any of the other instruments, and he watched in amusement as Otoya's eyes lit up at the sight. The sound of someone clearing their throat brought everyone's attention back onto a flustered Giriko scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. The man glanced at Ryuya and Ringo and gave an apologetic smile. "Heh, so Yamanaka-san is running a li-"

"I'm here! Don't worry!" Everyone's gazes were drawn to the door where a young woman was running, awkwardly trying to put on a pair of black boots at the same time. "Sorry guys, my photo-shoot ran a little late. Anyways, introduction time I suppose. I'm-"

"Y-You're Keala Yamanaka!" Otoya's sudden outburst gathered everyone's attention and the woman, Keala, laughed lightly. "That explains all the guitars! I'm a huge fan! Your last album was amazing I must have listened to it on repeat for a week straight!"

Ranmaru took the time Otoya spent rambling to focus on this Keala person. She was tall for a woman, probably only a couple inches shorter than he was, with slate grey eyes that were lined with black eyeliner and eyelashes given a generous amount of mascara. Her outfit was simpler than he had expected of a producer, consisting of a plain white tee, a leather jacket and a pair of black leggings tucked into the boots she had just put on. What was extremely intriguing about her, though, was her oddly colored hair. A mid-toned teal faded into waves of black, in almost a reverse ombre fashion. It was cool, though he wouldn't say it outloud, and had it not been for the oddly colored tresses he would have found her to be a bit boring in appearance. Not to say she wasn't pretty, because she definitely was, though that was also something he wouldn't say outloud; it was just that the hair appeared to truly define her.

"Yo, earth to Kurosaki. Are you okay?" A calloused hand waved in front of his sight and Ranmaru's gaze flickered to notice that everyone else was seated at a large table in the center of the room. Heterochromatic eyes met slate grey and Keala stared at him strangely. "Either your eyes have some serious issues or you were just checking me out…"

He glared, quickly pushing passed her to sit down between Reiji and Ai. Ai kept staring straight ahead but the rocker could feel Reiji's gaze and he turned to give a warning glare to the brunette. Reiji only laughed lightly and watched as Keala sat down in between Ryuya and Ringo, the former with an extremely displeased look on his face. Ranmaru wasn't sure if anyone else had noticed, but he could only assume that Keala was the person that Ryuya wasn't too keen on visiting, though he had no inkling as to why. Nevertheless, the grey-eyed woman simply smiled and placed her hands on the table. "So, let's talk business. Shining told me that you seven need someone to help you with a new album."

* * *

An hour and twelve minutes later, most of which Ranmaru had spent staring at the clock, the meeting was finally over. He realized that this room was actually Keala's office, though there were very few personal touches, and her hands were calloused in a similar pattern as his own, confirming what Otoya had said about her being a guitarist. He had also noticed, within the first twenty minutes, that Ryuya's displeasure at being near her was mutual. Though she kept a smile plastered on her face, it was pretty easy to spot the façade. She clearly was as fond of the actor as he was of her. Though Ranmaru still had no clue as to why, he wouldn't ask. It didn't apply to him at all and, therefore, wasn't worth his time to figure out. So, yawning loudly, the silver-haired man stood up and waited impatiently for everyone to be ready. But, of course, Otoya had to go and ask the woman a million questions. Leave it to him to stall their departure.

He focused his frustration into mumbling to himself, "Great."

Though he had thought no one noticed, Camus was standing less than a foot away with the same stoic expression as usual. "You could at least pretend to pay attention, Kurosaki. This woman took time out of her busy schedule to speak with us."

Purple and silver eyes stared uncaringly at the blonde and he shrugged, "None of that applied to me. Why should I pay attention?"

"You were staring quite intently at her earlier; I simply assumed you would've wanted to stare further."

Ranmaru scoffed and glared angrily, "Shut the hell up. No one asked for your opinion."

As per usual, Ai came between to two men to intervene calmly. "We're leaving."

* * *

Watching as his boss fell back onto the couch in her office, Giriko raised a brow and smirked. "Long day, Yamanaka-san?"

Dark grey eyes narrowed and a deep frown settled on her features. Though she had managed to keep a smile on her face for the entire meeting, Keala couldn't deny that the entire thing had irritated her to no end. "It's two in the afternoon and my entire day is already ruined. Seriously, I don't understand why Shining felt the need to send Ryuya. Ringo alone would've been fine but no he just had to send the douchebag too. Bullshit."

Giriko chuckled, sitting beside the woman and shrugging lightly. "At least Kurosaki-san didn't recognize you. He most likely would have made a big scene; I've heard he can be temperamental."

She laughed softly and nodded, "He hasn't changed a bit since we were kids, except for the purple contact and the extra two feet of height. I've changed a lot, though, which is probably why he didn't recognize me. I'm glad though, the last thing I need is him yelling his ass off about working with the daughter of the woman who caused his father to go bankrupt."

"Do you think he knows who it was?"

"Don't know but if he doesn't then I'd like it to stay that way. I don't need him added to the list of people she's screwed over that want repayment."

"You're already cleaning up that mess, Yamanaka-san. If he knew tha-"

"I can't tell anybody, Giriko, you know that. She doesn't want any of her kids knowing that I'm helping her out. I can't tell Ranmaru or any of his siblings, that's just the way it is. So, let's just keep it so he continues thinking I'm some random producer lady and not someone from his past. Okay?"

"Yes, Yamanaka-san."

* * *

_Well you treat me just like another stranger  
It's nice to meet you sir  
I guess I'll go  
I best be on my way out_

_Ignorance is your new best friend._


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: These chapters are a little on the shorter side but bear with me. They'll get longer soon, I promise. Anyways, reviews would be great **

**DISCLAIMER: I do not, nor do I pretend to, own Uta no Prince-sama or any of its characters. I also do not own any of the song lyrics, they belong to Paramore. I only own my OCs.**

**Chapter 2: Seeing Purple**

_Silver eyes darted back and forth, following the pictures on the large, flat screen television. It was some sort of odd-looking superhero fighting a bad guy. He had no idea what he was watching, all he knew was that being at work with his dad was always boring and he always ended up watching the same weird show. "What even is this?"_

"_It's Anpanman. It's really dumb. My mom puts it on for my little brother and sister every morning."_

_Ranmaru's gaze flickered to the source of the voice; a girl maybe a year his junior, so ten to his eleven, with big grey eyes and teal hair that was sectioned into two pigtails. Looking back at the TV, the boy frowned. "Anpanman? Sounds stupid."_

_She nodded and took the liberty of plopping herself on the couch, right next to him. She watched as he started flipping through the channels, trying to find something that wasn't dumb to him, and she giggled quietly. "I'm Keala, by the way. What's your name?"_

"_Ranmaru Kurosaki."_

_She smiled softly and quickly snatched the remote from his hands. The action was followed by a loud cry of protest from the older child until Keala had managed to press a few buttons and video footage of a Japanese band showed up on screen. "I don't know what you like to watch but this is what I change it to after my mom leaves. Adults usually don't let kids watch this but you're the boss's son so I figure it doesn't matter what you watch."_

_Ranmaru blinked a couple times and then stared in awe at the people on the screen. Eyeing the men playing electric guitar and bass, he didn't even realize he had spoken. "Woah…awesome."_

_Grey eyes stared at the screen as well, a bright smile lighting up her face. Lifting up a finger to point at the man on the left of the screen, she waited a few seconds for Ranmaru's gaze to follow. "That's a 1959 American Vintage Fender Stratocaster. It's a reissue but the neck's made with real maple and rosewood and it sounds amazing."_

_Silver eyes widened like saucers and he found himself staring in shock at the girl. At first she had been a nuisance and he had thought she'd talk about stupid girly things like ponies or unicorns, but now he found himself thoroughly enjoying her company. "Hey, Keala. Do you play?"_

_The sound of her own name caught the girl's attention and she laughed before nodding. "Yep! I usually only play acoustic but someday…someday I'm gonna play a guitar as amazing as that. I bet the pi-"_

"_Keala, let's go."_

_The sound of a woman's voice caused the two kids to turn their heads. Judging solely on the woman's hair, a deep turquoise, Ranmaru gathered that this was the mother Keala had been talking about. She didn't seem nearly as pleasant as his own; in fact, she didn't look pleasant at all. He wanted to say something but was immediately silenced by a shake of his father's head. "Ranmaru, what are you watching? Is this one of those music channels? There's half-naked men on that screen, you shouldn't be watching that arou-"_

"_Actually, Kurosaki-san, I changed it. I'm sorry."_

_Everyone glanced at Keala and the two males watched as she was pulled off the couch by her mother and scolded, "Keala Yamanaka, what did I tell you about watching that crap? Ugh, remind me to tell your father to help me figure out that parental control thing on our TV. So sorry about this, Kurosaki-san, I'll get her out of your hair now. Keep in mind what we discussed. I'll see you again on Thursday?"_

_He nodded, a frown in his slightly wrinkled features, and Ranmaru watched as Keala was dragged out the door, however, not before waving at him with a smile on her face, "Bye, Ranmaru! See you Thursday!"_

_He nodded, the same way his father had moments earlier, and for some odd reason found himself actually excited for Thursday. Maybe they could talk about the man playing the bass when she came back._

* * *

Silver eyes snapping open, Ranmaru sat up in his bed and rubbed his face with his hands. He'd been having weird dreams since the meeting on Monday but they had previously just been glimpses of different memories, nothing fully concrete like just now. He hadn't recognized her that day but looking back on it she looked the same. Albeit the obvious things had changed, like her features were more defined rather than rounded out like a child's and she was a lot taller, same as he, but she still had the same obsession with guitar. She still had that hair, too. Though it was dyed at the ends now, it was still that same unique shade of turquoise.

He had liked her back then, as a friend of course, but things were drastically different now. His father's company had gone bankrupt ten years back thanks to a colleague, and that colleague had been none other than a stoic woman by the name of Aolani Yamanaka. The woman native of Hawaii who had come to Japan to pursue a career in modeling and was also well-adept in finance. Keala's mother.

Jaw clenching, Ranmaru jumped out of bed and walked into the bathroom to turn on his shower. He stripped himself of his pajamas and stepped under the scalding hot current of water. Maybe the mixture of heat and steam would get his mind off of the entire situation. Maybe not. "It's been ten years. Ten years, and she looks just like her bitch of a mother. Tch."

The question of importance, though, was whether to go to his mother or to Keala herself. He didn't particularly want to bring up the issue to his mother because, no matter how hard she tried to cover it up, she was still having a hard time carrying everything on her shoulders. Sure, Ranmaru tried his best to pay the debt off but that fact remained that the debt was large. No. It was massive. He'd be lucky if he could pay it off by the time he had turned eighty. Getting back on track, the silver-haired idol pondered the latter option. Sure, knowing what he knew now it wasn't optimal to speak with Keala but it'd be a hell of a lot easier.

Rinsing the shampoo from his hair, he turned the shower off and grabbed a towel. It took him a grand total of fifteen minutes to get ready and he grabbed his keys before slamming the door to his apartment shut. Shockingly, he didn't even realize that putting that lone purple contact in had slipped his mind completely.

* * *

"No, Mai, I don't want a steam vac. Will you please get back on track and stop buying random ass things. You have a serious problem."

"Aww, but Kay do-"

"No."

"Are yo-"

"Yes, I'm sure. No steam vac. Seriously, Mai, focus."

"Okay, okay! So you said you needed new strings for your guitar and a new set of drumsticks? That's it?"

"Yeah, that's it. Oh, and don't forget you need that thing for your keyboard."

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot about that!"

"And can you pick up lunch on your way back? I'm dying of starvation."

"Is pizza good?"

"Pizza is perfect. Thanks, Mai."

"No problem! I'll see you in thirty."

Click.

Rubbing her forehead in circular motions, Keala twirled around in her chair in an attempt at figuring out how to configure the CD in her hands. It was the one song Starish had already recorded and she needed it to be mixed to perfection when they came back the next week. She was so caught up in her thoughts that the producer barely registered the sound of shoes tapping loudly against the floor until a pair of small arms wrapped around her torso. "Keala-chan!"

Grey eyes flickering to meet silver, said woman smiled brightly at the twelve year old. "Hey there, Emi. What's up?"

"Mom said we needed to stop by. Can I play with the instruments? Please?"

Letting out a light laugh, Keala nodded, "Go for it, kiddo. Just don't break anything."

She watched as the girl darted towards the bass, sitting down beside it with eyes sparkling. "You know Ranmaru-onii has one of these, too. He plays it all the time when he comes to the house and I think he's in love with it 'cause he won't let anyone touch it. I don't mind though. He's really, really good!"

"Emi, be careful with Yamanaka-san's equipment. It's very fragile."

Keala registered the voice immediately, gaze drifting towards the older woman. Silver hair, just like her kids, but with deep set blue eyes instead of the silver that Ranmaru had. "Morning, Kurosaki-san."

The woman gave Keala a look of irritation and shook her head slowly. "How many times do I have to tell you? Call me Kimiko. You're going to start getting on my nerves, Keala."

Letting out an airy laugh, the teal-haired woman just shrugged uncaringly. Then, taking an envelope out of her purse, she held it out. "I'm not gonna stop calling you Kurosaki-san. But anyways I don't think you're here to scold me. That check is for 200,000 Yen, just like usual."

Gently taking the check, Kimiko put it into her purse quickly. Just in time to hear Emi exclaim a very familiar name. "Ranmaru-onii!"

Both women glanced toward the door, eyes wide in shock at the sight of a very peeved rocker. He took a glance at Emi, then Keala, and finally his mother. "Mom, what's going on here? Why the hell are you talking to," he glanced at Keala once more, "that."

The grey-eyed woman scoffed, "Wow and here I thought you were somewhat professional. She's just visiting."

Ranmaru watched as his mother grabbed his younger sister and headed for the door. "Ranmaru, be nice to Yamanaka-san. She hasn't done anything wrong." Glancing back at Keala, she gave an apologetic smile and walked out the door.

"So, first your mother and now you? I thought maybe you'd end up being a halfway decent person. Turns out, you're just like her."

At the insult, the woman seethed with anger. Eyes narrowed, she stood up and walked towards the equally angry man. "Don't you dare compare me to her. I am nothing like my mother."

"Tch."

"What the hell do you want anyway, Ranmaru?"

"Just wanted to make sure it was you. Now that I know for sure you are who I thought, I can finally tell you to fuck off. Leave my family alone."

"I didn't do anything to you so quit being a douche. Get out of my office."

"With pleasure."

And with that, he turned on his heels and began walking to the door, stopping briefly when she spoke once more. "By the way, your face looks much less hideous without that stupid contact."

"Shut the hell up."

It was almost upsetting how different they both had become compared to when they were kids. However, no matter how much they had changed, they were still extremely similar. Both were idols. Both had goals. Both hadn't forgotten their history. And both were trying desperately to clean up a parent's mess.

* * *

_The truth never set me free  
The truth never set me free  
The truth never set me free  
So, I'll do it myself._


End file.
